China sentences Canadian to death for drug smuggling as diplomatic row deepens
Schellenberg was detained in 2014 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2016 on charges of being an accessory to drug smuggling.
Schellenberg's lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo, said his client now has 10 days to appeal.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November.
At Schellenberg's appeal hearing last month, prosecutors said that emerging evidence indicated he had played a bigger role in a drug trafficking network and so his initial sentence was too light.
In what is believed to be a retaliation to Meng's arrest, Chinese authorities detained former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who now works for a foreign think tank, and businessman Michael Spavor days later.
China is known for handing out harsh sentences for drug crimes including the death penalty when substantial amounts of illicit substances are involved.
"This is very much a concern to see that China is acting arbitrarily and applying the death penalty to a Canadian", he said, adding the government "will continue to talk to our allies and to China about this".
Schellenberg's aunt, Lauri Nelson-Jones, said the family's worst fears had been confirmed. The Chinese tech executive remains under house arrest in Vancouver after she was arrested over US allegations that her company misled banks to circumvent sanctions on Iran.
The death sentence comes a month into China and Canada's diplomatic feud over Ottawa's arrest and detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
China's ambassador to Canada accused the country last week of "white supremacy" in calling for the release of the two Canadians while describing the detentions as an "act of self-defence".
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One plausible explanation was that China wanted to show Canada it was "deadly - literally deadly - serious about getting Meng Wanzhou released", Clarke said.
After his accomplice turned himself into the police, Schellenberg fled Dalian and was arrested in southern China on December 1, 2014, when he tried to fly to Thailand, the court said.
Chinese state television said in an earlier report that Schellenberg argued in court that he was a tourist visiting China and was framed by criminals.
"The court, instead of deciding the appeal one way or the other by itself, sent the case back down to the original trial court for a re-trial", Clarke wrote in a blog post on LawFare.
"The Chinese side took coercive measures against him because he was suspected of engaging in activities that endanger China's national security".
While unusual, it is not unprecedented for a foreign national to be sentenced to death in China.
Drug smuggling is routinely punished severely in China. British resident Akmal Shaikh was executed in 2009 for smuggling heroin.
Trudeau on Friday accused China of "arbitrarily and unfairly" detaining the two men and of ignoring Kovrig's "diplomatic immunity" - earning a scornful rebuke from Beijing.
China remains the world's top executor, according to global monitors, though the country does not publish detailed statistics.
Direct engagement by the prime minister with the Chinese leader would highlight the seriousness of the issue, said Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who just wrapped up a visit to China as part of a parliamentary delegation.
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